The Ascalon Arena
by supersayaindevin11
Summary: In the ruins of Ascalon, an Arena is born! Though there is more than just sweaty guys fighting here. Uncover the true secrets and hidden pasts that will change the fate of Ascalon forever
1. Chapter 1

_First fanfiction I've written in so long. Thinking about deleting my old ones since they suck so badly and it's not like I'm going to finish them. But I felt like I needed to make this one. It's been on the tip of my tongue for days now and I just had to write it down. I've been playing Guild Wars a lot recently. My favorite one is the Prophecies, "first one." I've never gotten into the other ones. But I've had an idea for a story for a long time now and here it is. A short summery is in the next bolded paragraph but if you want to be surprised then skip it. It's not going to give away a lot._

_So my character is named Roy, (who is from Ascalon) and after 2 years of Ascalon being at war with the Char, he is finally returning for an invitation to fight in the Arena. The Arena is made up of 16 heroes from different parts of Tiria and two of them are from Cantha. But the idea is to find out the champion whether it's the people of Lions Arch, Kryta, Yak's Bend, the Wilds… You get the picture. But in the story, you will see the hidden pasts of the main character Roy as well as some other participants. I don't plan on having this story short because I have a lot to fit in and the Arena only lasts five days. Though I hope that somehow I can fit everything I need into it._

_By the way I'm going into my freshmen year so I may not be as good as some other authors on Fanfiction. I will try my best to fix my grammar and spelling mistakes I make. Looking back at the stories I wrote in seventh grade, I do hope that I've improved. _

**R&R Plz! **

Ch 1

Introduction

I looked around to see if I could find Orion anywhere. I was meaning to talk to him before I left to Ascalon about some business I forgot to attend to. Orion was a dear friend of mine and we made it out of some life threatening situations together. He was the first one to join my party. It would be quite pleasing to have him come, but I understood he needed to help fight off the char forces in Diessa Lowlands.

At least I wasn't going completely alone. Mox was coming with me. I met him along time ago right outside Lions Arch. He was scouting for any undead. Mox is a robot created by a brilliant man. I don't remember his name but he isn't all that tall. Sort of like a hobbit. I met the guy a long time ago when I accidentally fell into his secret lair. Don't blame me no one told me it was at the bottom of the falls. But I was walking all day and felt like I could go for a swim...

Anyway the Arena is in three days and I feel like I was totally prepared. I've been to Cantha recently talking to some old dude and he was teaching me some awesome fire moves. I'm a fire mage you see so all my spells are basically just fire. I do know some water magic too bur the only time you could use water magic is when water is available to you. But it's not like there is a pond or stream in every corner of Tiria. Fire is a lot easier to create and doesn't take that much energy. I hoped that my magic was enough for the Arena. The best fighters known were going to be there and I needed to beat all of them! That's a lot of work for someone only nineteen.

One last thing about the arena, I had to remember that I wouldn't have Alesia there to heal me every time I get a wound. She's my healer and a good friend of mine too. She was the third one to join my party. Luckily she was going to be in the stands watching me while I was in the arena fighting. That's good because I wound have another human friend with me so I wouldn't be stuck talking to a robot the whole time.

My party of 3 was ready to take off for Ascalon. Since Orion was no where in sight, I would just have to send him a letter after the games.

Alesia was beside me ready when I was. I don't know what I was waiting for. I just felt like I had to wait for somebody. I didn't want to leave the Academy just yet. I wanted to have a word with Ken before I left. An old friend of mine I saw last I was here back when we were still trying to retrieve the horn. I met him and he gave me some advice I would never forget.

I started asking around for him and just my luck, he was in Yaks Bend on a business trip. I sighed and headed out for Ascalon. Though before I walked out the gates, a man ran after me yelling, "Wait!"

A tall man in black cloths and a hood ran up to me and put his hand on my soldier out of breath. His face was pale and eyes wide open.

"Please help me Roy, you must. It's my daughter you see… She's going to get killed!"

"Please sir relax. Where is your daughter and what kind of trouble is she in? Did she venture outside of the walls?" I asked. The man took a long time to respond. He was in a state of complete panic.

"No you see my daughter is named Elizabeth and she died about seven years ago…"

"Wait… She _died_ seven years ago?" Alesia asked.

"Yes and her ashes… She died in a fire and her ashes are still in our old house right outside of Ascalon. Please bring her back to me safety."

I scratched my head long and hard. Though seeing his sadness and content, I decided to save him an hour of crying.

"Don't worry, once I get to Ascalon I will get her ashes and bury them in a nice cozy graveyard. Your daughter will finally be able to rest in peace. Would you like that?" I asked. The man fell to his knees and bowed his head.

"Yes! Than you so much hero! You are as pure as the gods themselves. I wish you well on your travel to Ascalon. You truly deserve to win the Arena."

I quickly walked away in fear that he would start kissing my shoes. I didn't need all of that stupid stuff. But that's how life is when your famous like me. These people start relying on you to do stupid stuff like this and I'm just too nice to tell them no. Most of the people in Ascalon are to broken to realize my greatness and fame sot hey usually don't care as much. That was why the sooner we left the better.

I found Mox standing next to a pile of books and dragged him with me. The trip to Ascalon would take about four hours and I was hoping he could carry me most of the way. He's not much on conversation though. Robots don't talk much like humans. Their more like the quiet strong type.

**Slow beginning I know. Sorry guys just wanted to introduce some people and tell you more about the games.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for reading everyone you are all wonderful people! Please R&R haven't been on FF for so long and just started writing again. Tell me what you think please. Stuff like that means the world to me. **

Ch 2

"Is that Ascalon?" Alesia asked. "It's been so long since I've seen it. Not much of a sight now just a bunch of ruins."

"Yeah, a bunch of ruins and an Arena full of secrets and challenges. Not all of it is going to be in the ring you know. The challenges are a mystery but they are guaranteed to be hard. The Arena is a last-one-standing deal. In fact, most of them probably wont even come back alive."

Walking through the doors of Ascalon was like a nightmare. The town you grew up in was demolished completely. There was almost nothing left of it but some ruins and the smell of death. It was almost impassable to think that this place was ever once beautiful.

The first person I recognized there was Dakota. He leads a big army in the battle against the char. I had a brief word with him a long time ago but now I hear he is a huge part of the Arena's setup. I walked up to him hoping he would remember me.

"Ah, alas! Someone who can take this letter over to Fort Ranik." He said handing me an envelope. I looked at it and blinked. "Ha, I'm just kidding me boy! It's been so long since I've seen you." He patted my back and took a seat next to his table of goods. I took the seat next to him.

"It's good to see you too Dakota. Listen I hear that you have something to do with the Arena." I said looking around at the piles of dirt that use to be beautiful patches of grass and rubble that use to be vast towers.

"Yes, well you see I'm the one who developed the whole thing. At first the War Masters wouldn't agree to it. Said that they were too busy fighting in a war to host such an event. But I suggested that we take the winner and have him help us a bit in our campaigns and they agreed to it without hesitation."

"So the Arena is just a way to get people to join the army?" Alesia asked.

"You see, the Arena was designed to help find out who the best of the best was. Ascalon, Lions Arch, The Wilds, Kryta, and even a small part of Cantha. That was its original idea. The only way I was able to bring it to life was to add one small little detail and that is to help with one little mission that's all. Besides with the prize money and your new title of "the best of the best", no one can really make you do it now can they?"

"So if I end up winning I would need to end up doing a job for Ascalon before I'm off the hook or would I become a full time soldier?" I asked.

"Well the decision isn't really up to Ascalon. You do one job for us and you can do what you want. Though that's nothing you really need to worry about now is it."

"Well I am participating you know…"

"What?" He practically flung back in his chair. I couldn't help laughing a bit. "You are participating? I thought that you were too young to be in the games. You are only nineteen and I know that the rules say sixteen and up but that is still very young.

"This is no game Roy this is the real deal. People who enter the Arena sometimes don't make it out. This may cost more to you than just your reputation. I must ask you not as a General but as your friend. Please promise me that you won't participate in the games, I beg of you! Your life may be at stake."

"Please Dakota, I do know my own strengths. I am a level twenty elementalist. I'm sure I can handle this. I've fought a level twenty-two creature before and beat him almost single handedly." I bragged.

"No it's not that, its something else. Something terrible will happen if you enter the games. I have warned you so be gone. There is nothing left I have to say to you good day Roy and good luck in the Arena. You will need it. May the gods bless you child." He got up and walked away without another word.

"Hey what is up with him?" Alesia asked.

"He just doesn't want me to get hurt out there that's all. He's being a nice friend and I thank him for that. Though I'm still fighting in the Arena."

I looked around for anyone else I could talk to and I spotted a group of people huddling around someone. Most of them were female. I walked up to them and made my way through the crowd. I was truly stunned when I was who it was.

I've heard stories of him but I've never actually seen him in real life before. It was Throm the greatest warrior in the entire North. He was a dwarf about four feet six inches. His beard was long and his blade was sharp. His cloths were a magnificent golden color and he had long pointed boots. Seeing him in real life was amazing at first. I mean he was a real famous hero. But then came the question. What is he doing in Ascalon? The Arena… Was he going to participate in the arena? I really didn't want to go face to face with him in a battle he'd chop my neck off! I swallowed hard and began walking away.

I hope that this place had some kind of five star hotel or something for participants. Then again what if someone wanted to poison me before the games starts. Alesia could feel my stress and walked me over to a nice place where I could sit down for a moment and relax.

Like Dakota said the games were going to be tough. Only two more days till then and I could already feel the strain.

"You are Roy right?" A voice said. I looked behind me and saw a middle aged man standing there.

"Yeah, nice to meet you…" I said.

"It's Mason by the way. I work here with the Arena staff and I will be your guide for the next few days. It is my duty to make sure you attend all of the activities that we do and make sure you have food on your plate. Speaking of food, dinner time in twenty minutes but I would leave now so you have a nice seat."

"Oh, thank you Mason. Come on Alesia lets go eat." I said getting up.

"I'm sorry Roy but I think you have misunderstood. The food is not for guests it is for participants in the arena only." He said. I looked over at Alesia.

"It's okay Roy really." She said in a sweet gentle tone. "I will go wait over by Mox until you have finished your meal."

"Come now Roy you mustn't be late." He said practically shoving me. I looked over at Alesia once more and headed over to the cafeteria. Mason was showing me all of the neat ruins as we were walking by. "This use to be the grand library, this use to be the thrown room…" This idiot must not know that I lived in Ascalon for half of my life.

"And now this is the cafeteria. I'm sure you will find a nice spot right there." He said pointing. The table was huge. It had twenty chairs on the left, twenty on the right, and 2 at each of the ends like the ones you would see at a kings' dinning room. It had a cloth on it with the Ascalon symbol on it along with the Wilds, Lions Arch, and all the others lined up down the table. I sat next to my symbol and Mason sat across from me. Guides sat on one end participants sat on the other I guessed. In the center of the table leading down the way was a whole bunch of food. Turkey, hog, chicken, fried char… It all smelled so delightful.

There was only four other people seated. Throm and his guide sat on the other end of the table and another hero sat next to him. Only when Mason lit all the candles could I really make out who it was. It was… Well actually I didn't know who he was. I though that everyone here I should know immediately.

"Him? He is one of the heroes from Cantha. Two heroes from Cantha are participating remember? Word it that he took on 20 giants at once. A bunch of rumors though and don't expect them to be true." Mason informed me.

The tables filled up fast and soon heroes from all over Tiria were here. I didn't know any of them personally. Dinner was quite good though. The king himself sat down and greeted us. I still hated him for bailing on his son so long ago.

Dinner was real quiet. No one really spoke. There was a lot of death glares though. Throm even gave me one any I almost wet my pants.

So dinner wasn't all that exiting. I was glad when it ended.

I started walking back to Alesia after all the tables cleared up.

"Hey where do you think your going?" Mason asked me. I turned around and looked at him with a blank stare.

"What do you mean where am I going I promised I would go meet with Alesia after dinner was over remember? She hardly has any money and I was going to help her find a meal. What else would I be doing?"

"What else would you be doing? Do you thing this is some kind of a joke? Look here Merlin you have duties to attend to. You are rich, powerful, and famous. I can't have you wondering around by yourself at this hour. You need to get some rest boy. The Arena is in forty-six hours and you need to get some sleep. I will escort you to your room now follow me. I'm sure your friend will be fine. It's not like she can't just find some food on her own."

He began to walk away and I felt that I had no choice but to follow him. I can just make up an excuse for bailing tomorrow. It was quite stupid really. The sun isn't even all the way down.

R&R 


	3. Chapter 3

**Wanted to make this a long chapter for a change. **

Ch 3

The Hunt

I woke up the next morning at six am. Not by myself of course. Mason practically shoved me off the bed in effort to get me up.

The first thing on my mind was to talk to Alesia. But it seems that Mason had other plans. From six-thirty to seven-thirty, I was to go on a morning jog and from seven-thirty to eight I was too do some meditation exercises. After that was breakfast followed my an activity called "the hunt."

Mason explained it to be where all of the participants group up with one other member trying to make it all the way from the breach, to Fort Ranik, and up to the Northern walls. Everyone would have different routes to take but that was mine. One guy even had to venture all the way to the academy and back. A four-hour trip one way. Mine was pretty easy though. I couldn't wait to find out who my partner was going to be.

After breakfast was over, I was pumped and ready for the trek I would have to do and waited patiently for the king's speech to end.

"Now I want a clean session today men. I do not want to see any fighting amongst ourselves. If I do see any of that you will be disqualified from the Arena and banished from Ascalon for seven weeks. This must remain a clean game." The king looked at all of the faces looking up at him. "And as I look out to all of you this fine morning, I do wish you the best of caution. The charr mustn't be underestimated. They are a brave strong race. I don't want any of you being killed before the games have even begun. Now I shall team you up with your partners for today."

He started calling off a bunch of people's names and matching them up. I was one of the lasts to be called.

"Who else do we have here… Ah yes young Roy. I think that as talented as you are, you can watch over young Maya here. I do believe you have met her. Rumors told me that you two are quite good friends." The king said. I looked around. _Maya? Who the heck was Maya?_

"As you wish king." Maya said bowing. I looked behind me and sitting at a chair on the far side of the table stood a girl with light blue cloths, and black hair. Her skin was flawless and she was young. Very young. Maya was only sixteen years old and she was going to participate in the arena?

After I gave her a second glance, I started to remember her. The king said I knew her and he was right. I met her while on a job in Divinity Coast next to Lions Arch. She was talking to me about the different types of magic and how different nations . Cantha and Tiria that is. Though then she had on colonial assassin cloths on and her hair was in two ponytails. This time it was in darker and let down. Was she a level twenty assassin now? I already knew the answer to that. She was and she was three years younger than me.

"Good to see you again Roy. Though I gotta say you so look stronger since I last saw you." She said holding out her hand to me. I shook it and smiled down at her.

"I'm not going to lie Maya but I really didn't expect to see you at a place like this. To think that you have what it takes to fight in the Arena."

"I have been a level twenty assassin for six months now and you've only been a level twenty fire mage for… Two weeks I believe." She bragged.

"Yeah, well we'll just see who the better fighter is out there on the battlefield. We have a long way to go and don't expect me to carry you the whole way up." I said smiling. Mason walked up to me and pointed up at the sky.

"Do you see that Roy? The sky is never blue here. In the distance it glows a faint red color. The sky changes colors here from the gods. They tell us when danger is near. A red sky is the darkest."

"The sky has been like this in Ascalon for months now. I don't see how an omen like that has anything to do with the gods. I hardly even believe in them myself. Never even knew their names until I met Alesia."

"The Gods are just a distraction. Whether they are real or not doesn't matter. I don't see why they should interfere with your life when they only have true power over you in the next world. Let us all hope that the next world is not close." Maya said.

"It is time for the hunt to begin!" The king yelled. "In this you may face many dangers and creatures that will alarm you. Know that if you don't have what it takes to win this and make it all the way through, you would have never stood a chance in the Arena anyway.

"If you shall succeed, I grand the first winner back three platinum, the second I grand one in a half platinum, and third shall receive five hundred gold. You should consider packing a lunch for some of you won't be returning for quite some time. But if you want to do that, you would need to do that on your time. Now… May the hunt BEGIN!"

"Already!" Maya and me asked at the same time. But he was not kidding. The gates of the northern wall were raised and many of the competitors were already gone.

"Come on!" I yelled to Maya running out the gates.

"Wait shouldn't you pack a lunch first?" She asked running after me. I did not respond. Time was going by so fast and I needed the money. I needed to pay back Alesia for all of the ditching I have done already. I wish I could have just ditched Mason when I had the chance.

"So where are we going?" Maya asked catching up to me. I thought to myself for a moment.

"There is an outpost in the Breach. That's where they want us to sign in before we head to Fort Ranik." I said looking in all directions for monsters or Charr. Many of the people were starting to slit off now. They were all going in different places in Ascalon. I didn't let myself get distracted in seeing where they were going though. I was too kept my head in the game. The Breach was a little over an hour away and there were plenty of charr there.

"Watch out!" Maya yelled. I stopped running and looked behind me.

"What do you mean I don't see anything." I said looking all around. But my eyes were fixed on Maya and she was looking straight up at the sky. There flying through the sky was a huge dragon with amazing wings and hard, scaly green skin. The dragon had something on it's back and only when they moved from in front of the sun could I make out that it was a charr warrior holding his bow up high.

"Quickly Roy shoot him down, he's headed for Ascalon!" She yelled. I could see the big city in the distance and they were in fact headed that direction.

"Fine I will try something." I said. I put my hands out in front of me and the symbol of fire emerged before me. I shot a flare up into the sky right at the dragon's wings and like it was nothing had no effect. The dragon didn't even seem to notice.

"You need to try something else quickly." She said. I looked over at Maya wondering why she wasn't doing anything. Yet can assassins actually be of any use to a flying creature like this.

"I will try a phoenix!" I said just thinking about it. It was strong enough to bring that down right? I put my hands out before me once more and the symbol of the phoenix appeared. And then a phoenix made completely of fire flew up the dragon at full speed. The phoenix wasn't that big but the charr saw it and quickly turned moved the dragon out of the way dodging the spell. Now I had no ideas. I was already getting tired from walking the whole time and casting those spells.

The dragon and its rider continued to Ascalon and as Maya realized I wasn't going to do anything about it, she tossed me her bag and took a deep breathe.

"What do you think you're doing? There is nothing you can do." I said trying to reason with her. But she made up her mind she leaped into the air and vanished in a puff of black smoke. My jaw fell all the way to the ground.

Maya reappeared right behind the Charr on the dragon's back. After a few seconds, the charr realized her sitting there and attempted to shoot her with his arrow. But Maya quickly jumped and did a good side kick right in his ribs and sent him flying off the dragon.

The dragon attempted to get her off by doing loops and making a lot of sudden movements, but she was holding on like there was no tomorrow. She reached in her pockets and pulled out two arrow blade daggers and stabbed the dragon's neck with them. The dragon yelped out in pain and started making doughnuts in the air trying to fling her off. But now Maya was able to hold on by the daggers. The dragon grew very frustrated now and flexed his neck as hard as he could. To Maya's surprise, the daggers broke and Maya flew off of the dragon.

She disappeared again this time right on top of me and we both came crashing to the ground.

"Wow Maya! That was amazing! No wonder you are a level twenty assassin." I said scratching the back of my head. "The good news is it looks like you managed to hurt it pretty bad and it seems like it is retreating." I said watching it start to fly in the opposite direction.

"What is the bad news?" Maya asked stretching out her back.

"The bad news is that I'm going to end up facing you in the arena." I said just now comprehending her true strength. That all seemed like a warm up to her. If she could do that that I wonder what she looked like in a serious one-on-one match.

"Hey don't worry about it. When it comes my turn to face you, I will go easy on you. How does that sound?" She asked smiling. And for some reason I felt that even if she were going easy on me I would still loose. This girl was insane.

"Hey I'm sorry about your daggers by the way. I didn't think that they would actually break." I said. She smiled up at me.

"Don't worry about it. I have ten extra ones. Those weren't even my good ones either. Those were one of the first ones I got. I was thinking about selling them anyway." She said.

As we approached the Breach, we spotted a gang of charr. Maybe like thirty of them all with their swords out and it was if their eyes were following our every movement. They were all huddled together looking for a fight and the only way to the outpost was past these guys. I looked down at Maya and she looked up at me and be both decided it was time to take them out.

We charged at them and they charged at us. Thirty against two might not sound like a fair fight, but the odds were clearly stacked in favor of us. These guys were weak. They were probably level six each. I've fought plants stronger than these guys.

The first one slammed his axe down on me. I quickly got my staff and blocked it. I used the knife on the end of my staff to stick him right in the chest. He dropped dead instantly.

Six of them circled around me and tried to beat me to death with their clubs. Though I casted the inferno spell and the symbol of a dragon appeared below me. A wave of fire and flames bursted in every direction. They all dropped dead as well.

A charr came up to Maya and tried to stab his spear at her, but she evaded the attack and jumped to the side. She used her arrow head blades to cut the spear in half. The charr were all in total shock and in anger dropped his stick and charged at her. Maya jumped up and putting her hands of his solders did a handstand. The charr was strong enough not to be affected by her weight and she didn't weigh very much. But then she jumped up into the air, did a flip, and as she came down, she jabbed her daggers into the charr's back. Once she hit the ground she rolled right in between two charr soldiers. She simply jumped up and extended both of her legs kicking both of them in the face and jabbed each of them with her daggers in the heart.

The charr were all dead now in less than five minutes. Maya looked over at me and smiled. I did a half smile back and continued walking to the outpost. I could see it now. The sign was half a mile away and I could still see what was written on it. Piken Square. Apparently we had to sign in here before we made a direct U-turn and headed to Fort Ranik.

The outpost was nothing special believe me. Just a bunch of ruins that were stable enough to substitute as walls. There were very few people there. More than at the academy but nothing like at Fort Ranik.

"Ah Roy of the Guild has finally come. Your late Roy." A girl said signing me at the main desk as I entered the outpost. "You should have been here thirty minutes ago. I was starting to think you had become charr bait." She looked up from her paperwork and I recognized her almost immediately. She was one of the girls who introduced me to Mox in Lions Arch months ago. What was she doing all the way in Ascalon?

"Lizzy was it?" I asked raising an eyebrow. She smiled and nodded. "Yeah you were the one who was talking to Mox when I met him. You were the one who gave me permission to have him aid me in my travels. I must say I didn't expect you to travel all the way out here. What are you doing in Ascalon anyway?"

"I'm here on a mission from Sergio. The skills war-master at Lions Arch. He had me deliver some weapons over here as well as some reinforcements. I wasn't alone though. Two Mox's aided me. They sure do put up a fight though and make themselves useful." She looked over at Maya. "And is she your partner?" Lizzy asked. Maya looked up.

"My name is Maya Binhenta. I'm from Cantha across the seas." She said. Lizzy nodded as she wrote down her name.

"You sure are young Maya. How old are you?" Lizzy asked. Maya looked down and clenched her fists. Lizzy's eyes widened as she noticed she has offended her in some way. I reached out my hand to her to try to see what was wrong. Though before I could touch her she responded.

"I'm sixteen." She said simply. Lizzy didn't say anything. She didn't want to offend her any further. After thirty minutes of silence Lizzy spoke up.

"You two better leave now before you are even more late." She said. I nodded and walked away. Maya slowly followed.

"So what's wrong Maya?" I asked. I didn't expect an answer and at first I didn't get one. But then she spoke up.

"I'm just tired of people asking my age." She said simply. "Tired of people looking down on me because I'm the youngest in everything."

"You know I'm pretty young too. I get that a lot as well. But you shouldn't let that get to you. Being the youngest has some advantages."

"You don't understand." She said abruptly. She stopped walking and dropped her bag on the ground. Her eyes were watery. "You are young and I'll admit that. You are nineteen and you have amazing skill for your age. But it's different for me. You are not the youngest. I am. I have always been the youngest." She said. She flipped her hair to the side using it to hide her wet eyes.

"Hey people pry on young people. When there is a level twenty assassin at age thirty it's no big deal but when it's a level 20 assassin at age 16, people get interested. Age is everything in publicity." I reasoned trying to make her see the good side.

"I want people to see me as an equal not as a child prodigy or as some god. I'm human just like everyone else… I had a brother once that I don't know what happened to him that always treated me like a baby. I could never have time to myself to think or anything like that. He would always go looking after me whenever I wondered away. I had a time limit on how long I could be away. He cared for me too much even though it was perfectly safe.

"Though once… I truly was in trouble. A brilliant magician kidnapped me and my brother went after me like he always did. Though he never came out. He died that day trying to protect me.

"That is why I train so hard. So people won't go after me ever again. Though my youth makes people want to protect me. But I can protect myself now. I'm not like I was when they took his life…" She whipped her tears off her face picked up her bag.

"Come on Roy. If we want to get to Fort Ranik in time, we better start running." She said. Without another word she ran off.

"Hey Maya, wait up." I called running after her.

It was a long way to fort Ranik and I was getting tired. Maya looked back at me noticing I was falling behind and stopped.

"What are you doing Roy? I thought you wanted to win this stupid thing and pay Alesia back the money." Maya said with her hands on her hips.

"What is the point of doing this anyway. He said it was to see if we had what it takes for the Arena but I don't see the point in it."

"The point is that the king is taking the fact that he was the best fighters all across Tiria and Cantha. He is just using us to clear out some of the charr near Ascalon. Remember all the charr we took out before we go to the outpost?"

"Yeah I guess that is what he was planning. What other motives could he passably have?" I looked over at Maya's face. It was so dirty. Though what could I say. Mine probably looked like a mess as well. Though I don't know what it is about her, but I feel like me and her have a lot in common. And I know what you are thinking not in that way. She's way too young for me! I meant like a sister. I can talk to her and I mean really talk to her. I don't know what I mean by that. I'm just as confused as you are.

"Hey… what is that?" I asked looking behind Maya.

"What is what?" She asked turning around. It's not another dragon is it?" I began walking up to it. It was a green stone on a pedestal on the top of a hill where it looked as if charr had been there recently. It had a bunch of tents and a campfire in the corner. The stone was what caught my eye. The sun was shinning off of it and it was glowing. It felt as if it was alive. I was summoned by its beauty and like a mindless zombie walked up to it. I felt like touching it and just feeling its power and letting it's beauty sink into my hands.

"What are you doing?" Maya asked following me. I didn't even notice she was talking to me. I didn't even see her walking next to me. The stone was just so beautiful and rare. I reached out my hands to it slowly. As I did I heard whispers. Though my brain ignored them no matter how loud they got. The whispers turned into screams and yells and I could make out the words… "Inside… Brother… and after a few sentences of gibberish I could hear the name Cunning. Though these words were nothing to me at the moment. The stone was summoning me. I could not keep my eyes off of it. My hands were about to touch it when a force from my left pushed me to the ground. I hit my head on a rock hard.

I looked up and Maya was looking down at me like I was some freak.

"Did you hear that?" I asked her.

"Did I hear what? You were walking over to that stone like you were under some spell or something so I pushed you down. I didn't say anything…"

"You didn't hear the whispers? The screams? I don't remember what they said. I guess my head being pelted against this rock made me forget."

"Can you get up?" Maya asked.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." I said getting to my feet. "That stone… I don't know what it is but lets leave before I get tempted again." Maya nodded. Though before we could leave, the ground began to shake.

"I'm not hallucinating again am I?" I asked trying to stay standing. The ground… It was shaking so much it was like an earthquake.

"What's going on?" Maya asked. Maya fell to the ground unable to keep up. I was just barely standing from the intense shaking.

"I don't…" I started to say when something caught my eye. In the distance moving at about eighty miles per hour was dust and dirt rising from the ground in a line. Almost as it something was under the ground and coming straight for us. As it came closer, the shaking got more intense.

"Maya, watch out!" I yelled as the line of dust went right for Maya. I tried running to her but lost my balance and fell. I could only watch. It was like in slow motion. She just noticed it approaching her and could do nothing about it. Her reaction time was only about three seconds. The cloud of dirt and dust came and I could see nothing. It was so thick and even when I was able to stand I could not see my hand that was right in front of me. I looked around yelling her name. I could hear her screams but I couldn't identify what direction they were coming from. I felt so helpless.

I couldn't wait for it to clear. I didn't have that kind of time. I listened closely and tried to find her. Though there was another sound. A very loud one that I had just noticed. Now that I wasn't panicking like a total moron, I was able to hear the sound of something growling almost. The first thing that came to my mind was a giant dog. But then I recognized it. I had heard that sound when I was in the crystal dessert on the southeastern side of Tiria. It was… A gigantic worm!

It screeched as loud as it could and I tried to follow the direction in which it came from. Finally the dust cloud began lifting up and right in front of me by only six feet was the gigantic worm. It was eight feet in the air and that is only a fraction of its length. I looked up at its teeth. They were like a million of tiny blades with 3 layers. The first are around his mouth and the 2nd are deeper around his throat. It that think catches you in its mouth consider yourself dead.

Maya was on the floor in next to him looking right up at his ugly face. She was in shock and I don't blame her. I've never seen one of these things around Ascalon in my entire life. Maya was obviously new to these things as well for she couldn't move a muscle.

"Maya!" I called to her. She didn't look at me. Her eyes were fixed on the worm. Though my voice must have caught his attention because he looked down at me and smiled. I didn't even think death worms could smile!

He jerked his whole entire body down at me and I was able to jump out of the way just in time. His mouth slammed against the ground and he began disappearing in it. His body followed him and only then could I see just how long it was. I'd say about 60 feet long at the least. Maya looked over at me and pulled herself up.

"What was that?" She asked wanting to push me down again. I backed off in confusion.

"What do you mean. I believe I just saved your life and you are being so ungrateful." I said looking around for any sign of the worm.

"Saved my life? Are you joking? You think that you saved my life?" She asked. She broke out in fake laughter. "You idiot now he is coming back for us!"

"I didn't see you doing anything. You were just lying on the ground ready to be eaten."

"Is that what you think I was doing. You think that I was in such shock that I couldn't even move. Look I can kill a giant worm faster than you can cast on of your stupid little phoenix spells." She yelled angrily. "I have killed more giant worms than the population of Kryta and Ascalon combined."

"Than what were you doing then huh? Just lying there letting yourself get eaten?"

"No I wasn't!" She snapped. "I was staying still so he would not notice me so I could do a sneak attack. Then you had to butt in and mess the whole thing up! Worms have bad eyesight but they can sense very easily. Even the slightest touch can gather their attention." I was stunned to hear that she was actually using strategy.

Out of no where, he emerged again from the ground. This time he went straight up so there was little warning. Right in-between me and Maya that screeched again and this time, he was determined not to fail. He looked down at me and Maya trying to find which was would be the better meal.

I wasn't going to let him kill up. I shot a flare at his body and as it hit it's hard skin, it simply vanished. The worm like the dragon didn't even realize it.

"That spell is useless just face it." She said. She took out two daggers from her bag and charger at the beast. I thought she would stab him but instead she did basic attacks like using her daggers like swords and slicing him. It had no effect at all and all she was doing was gathering his attention. The worm narrowed his head down at her and charged. But during it, she took off running to me like a sissy.

"I got his attention and his mouth is wide open do the best fire-spell you got right in his mouth." Maya said smiling. The beast stopped his charge half way to the ground and with his head bent down he made a perfect target. I put my hands in front of me and the symbol of fire formed. Then a fireball emerged from my hands and shot straight into his mouth. For a second I though we had beaten him. But as the spell imploded within him. Smoke emitted from the inside of his mouth but in no way was he seriously harmed.

I formed a fist with my hands thinking of other spells I had. I could make it rain fire but that isn't that strong and is just like shooting a barrage of flares. The fireball had some impact but still at his weak spot didn't do much. Fire was to him. There were other elements though. Water was out of the picture because there were no ponds. Lightning was like fire and would have no effect. Air magic may do some damage... If I knew any that is. Though earth might do some damage on him. I got into a stance and unleashed four stone daggers at him right at his chest. As they hit, the beast screeched in pain. I looked at the damage I inflicted and was pretty satisfied. The thing seemed to be actually bleeding. A bunch of purple stuff was all over him in the spot I hit him at.

"Now that's more like it." Maya said smiling. The beast looked down at me with evil eyes and before I could blink just did a full on lunge right to me. I couldn't stop it. Its razor sharp started to snap at me. I thought I was dead but then something happened. I tucked my arms around my head to protect myself and as he was about to eat me, I noticed something about his mouth. It was covered in saliva. (Pretty gross huh.) But I just remembered… Saliva and water are almost the same thing!

I quickly froze the saliva in his mouth right, as he was about to bite down on me. He couldn't help but close his mouth. His face slammed right into me. In pain I went in a state where I was almost blacked out. I was token fifteen feet underground before the worm-changed directions and went right. As he left, the dirt began collapsing onto me. I was about to be buried alive in fifteen feet of dirt. Before it covered up my eyes, I saw Maya's face looking down at me and her eyes of sorrow.

I couldn't breath and couldn't move. I was almost passative he shattered a rib or two. I could also feel more weight of the dirt falling upon me. Before I passed out, I remembered a brother that I once had. I hated thinking about him but I only met him once. It is sad to loose someone and the thought of loosing Alesia, Maya, Orion, Sergio, and all the people in the Tiria who counted on me on saving Ascalon and on defeating the Shinning Blade and on bringing peace back to Kryta and their undead problem, and to save my brother before he was gone forever. There was so much I still haven't done. And here I was dying from a stupid worm. I couldn't take seeing all these people's faces if I died. _Where were you Roy? We needed you and you abandoned us! _I thought of the man at the academy. _Where were you when my Mother's ashes were rotting out in the cold? You said you would save her!_ I though of Alesia. _It's okay Roy really. I will go wait over by Mox until you finish your meal. _How could I let them down now? They needed me. They counted on me to help them. They counted on me to save them. But how could I do that if I couldn't even save myself?

No I wouldn't let them down. I will not die and I will not fail everyone again!

The dirt that was burying me alive was now shooting out of the hole like a volcano. Not once in my life have I even felt so relieved. I climbed out of the hole as a confident and angry man. Maya was looking at me with tears in her eyes as she realized that I was alive.

"I was about to jump down in there to get you… Don't ever freak me out like that again Roy!" She commanded running up to me and giving me a big hug. Hugging her seemed a little strange. We barley knew each other. But in another way, it felt right.

"Stand back Maya I'm taking down this bitch if it is the last thing I do!" I said stepping ahead of her.

"No I think you've done enough. Let me take it from here Roy I have more experience with fighting these things and I can do some real damage." She said twirling her dagger around her fingers. She noticed how strong my grip was on my staff and backed off. I was mad now and I didn't care if that thing was immune to my spells.

The worm blasted through the ground and screeched for the last time. I ran towards it and as it lunged just like it did before, I looked into it's mouth that was still frozen and unleashed a huge blaze of fire. It blazed out of my hands like it was guided by gunpowder and as it completely covered the beast and I mean I couldn't even see him in there. The fire bursting out of my hands was like a typhoon and by the time my spell was over, the beast was wailing and screaming in pain, as it's whole body was lit on fire. It wasn't long before it dropped dead onto the floor. After it was all over, I quickly grabbed my chest as a serge of pain pinned me to my knees. I felt Maya kneel down next to me and put her hand on my shoulder.

The pain was excruciating, though as we hastily made our way to Ascalon, (which was a lot closer than Fort Ranik,). I guessed Maya realized I was unable to continue the hunt in this condition. The trip to Ascalon took forty-five minutes. I dreaded every minute of it. Though this pain was nothing compared to the pain I would have to endure if I weren't able to return at all.

When we got to the gates of Ascalon, I was forced to put my shoulder around Maya and use my staff as a cane. I wasn't even able to walk anymore with the pain. Two soldiers on patrol noticed me and quickly ran to aid me. They helped walk back to my hotel suite.

I was given immediate medical attention and it turns out that I broke three of my ribs. My first thought was not being able to fight in the arena. No way it could heal in just two days. The pain soon stopped after half an hour on pain medication. Mason was not in my room with me but Maya was there the whole time. The doctors soon left after they did all they could for the day.

Maya never left that night. She didn't leave once and slept on the ground next to me. I guess it was because of her brother. I reminded her of him I think and she felt like she couldn't let anything happen to me. She got her brother killed and couldn't stand to see someone as close as I was die as well. But to me she was like a little sister. We may not be a happy family but at least we cared for one another.

**End of that chapter. Wow over six hundred words and the first 2 chapters had only about 2 hundred… yeah I know it's weird but I wanted this chapter to really show a build up with Roy and Maya. I hope you enjoyed this one. It had plenty of action in it. **

**R&R! **


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